Chiclet keyboard
Encyclopedia
Computer keyboard
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
built with an array of small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like eraser
Eraser
An eraser or rubber is an article of stationery that is used for rubbing out pencil markings. Erasers have a rubbery consistency and are often white or pink, although modern materials allow them to be made in any color. Many pencils are equipped with an eraser on one end...
s or "Chiclets
Chiclets
Chiclets is a brand of candy coated chewing gum made by Cadbury Adams. The colors of chiclets are: yellow, green, orange, red, white, and pink. The product's name is derived from Nahuatl word tziktli, in English chicle, the substance from which chewing gum was traditionally made...
", a brand of chewing gum manufactured in the shape of small squares with rounded corners. Most often the tops of the keys were hard, but sometimes they were made of the same material as the rubber dome itself. For example, the keys on Sinclair ZX Spectrum computers were "rubber dome keys" which were sometimes described as "dead flesh", while the "American" version of the Timex Sinclair 2068
Timex Sinclair 2068
The Timex Sinclair 2068 , released in November 1983, was Timex Sinclair's fourth and last home computer for the United States market...
was described as having "chiclet keys". Chiclet keyboards are characterized by having each key surrounded (and held in place) by a perforated plate, so there is a space between the keys.
Since the mid-1980s, chiclet keyboards have been mainly restricted to lower-end electronics, such as small handheld calculator
Calculator
An electronic calculator is a small, portable, usually inexpensive electronic device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, though most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators.The first solid-state electronic...
s, cheap PDA
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
s and many remote control
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
s.
The term has also been used more recently to describe several popular low-profile, low-travel keyboards. These keyboards have small, flat, squarish keys that are separated from each other by some space on the baseplate they protrude from - a feature common to the old chiclet keyboards. They are not chiclets in the earlier sense, however, as they do not use a rubber membrane or directly moulded hard key tops as the keys themselves and instead use a more modern technology.
Design
In some (but not all) versions of the chiclet keyboard, the bottom three layers are essentially the same as those in the membrane keyboardMembrane keyboard
A membrane keyboard is a computer keyboard whose "keys" are not separate, moving parts, as with the majority of other keyboards, but rather are pressure pads that have only outlines and symbols printed on a flat, flexible surface...
. In both cases, a keypress is registered when the top layer is forced through a hole to touch the bottom layer. For every key, the conductive
Electrical conductor
In physics and electrical engineering, a conductor is a material which contains movable electric charges. In metallic conductors such as copper or aluminum, the movable charged particles are electrons...
traces on the bottom layer are normally separated by a non-conductive gap. Electrical current cannot flow between them; the switch
Switch
In electronics, a switch is an electrical component that can break an electrical circuit, interrupting the current or diverting it from one conductor to another....
is open. However, when pushed down, conductive material on the underside of the top layer bridges the gap between those traces; the switch is closed, current can flow, and a keypress is registered.
Unlike the membrane keyboard, where the user presses directly onto the top membrane layer, this form of chiclet keyboard places a set of moulded
Molding (process)
Molding or moulding is the process of manufacturing by shaping pliable raw material using a rigid frame or model called a pattern....
rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
keys above this. With some key designs, the user pushes the key, and under sufficient pressure the thin sides of the rubber key suddenly collapse. In other designs — such as that seen in the diagram — the deliberate weak point is where the key joins the rest of the sheet. The effect is similar in both cases, however.
This collapse allows the solid rubber center to move downwards, forcing the top membrane layer against the bottom layer, and completing the circuit.
The "sudden collapse" of the chiclet keyboard (along with the movement of the key) provides a greater tactile feedback to the user than a simple flat membrane keyboard.
The dome switch keyboards used with a large proportion of modern PCs are technically similar to chiclet keyboards. However, the rubber keys are replaced with rubber domes, and hard plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
keytops rest on top of these. Because the keytops are wider than the rubber domes the keytops are not separated but align almost perfectly with only a minimal gap in between each other.
List of notable computers with chiclet keyboards
All of the computers listed hail from the early home computerHome computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
era, except the OLPC XO-1.
- Atari PortfolioAtari PortfolioThe Atari Portfolio is the first PC-compatible palmtop computer, and was released by Atari Corporation in 1989. The Portfolio was licenced from Distributed Information Processing based in Guildford, Surrey, UK...
(its keys resembled those of a HP pocket calculator) - Cambridge Z88Cambridge Z88The Cambridge Computer Z88 is an A4-size, lightweight, portable Z80-based computer with a built-in combined word processing/spreadsheet/database application called PipeDream, along with several other applications and utilities, such as a Z80-version of the BBC BASIC programming language.The Z88...
(arguably a mix between a membrane and chiclet keyboard) - Commodore PET 2001Commodore PETThe Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
(the original 1977 PET) had the square keys of a calculator or cash register. - Commodore 116 (version of the C16 sold only in Europe)
- Enterprise 64 (had a rubber keyboard, on top of which plastic keycaps were glued)
- IBM PCjrIBM PCjrThe IBM PCjr was IBM's first attempt to enter the home computer market. The PCjr, IBM model number 4860, retained the IBM PC's 8088 CPU and BIOS interface for compatibility, but various design and implementation decisions led the PCjr to be a commercial failure.- Features :Announced November 1,...
- Jupiter ACEJupiter ACEThe Jupiter Ace was a British home computer of the early 1980s, produced by a company, set up for the purpose, named Jupiter Cantab. The Ace differed from other microcomputers of the time in that it used FORTH instead of the more common BASIC.- Introduction :...
(Sinclair spectrum style black rubber keys) - Mattel AquariusMattel AquariusAquarius is a home computer designed by Radofin and released by Mattel in 1983. It features a Zilog Z80 microprocessor, a rubber chiclet keyboard, 4K of RAM, and a subset of Microsoft BASIC in ROM. It connects to a television set and uses a cassette tape recorder for secondary data storage...
(blue rubber keys) - Microdigital TK 90XTK 90XThe TK 90X was the first Brazilian ZX Spectrum clone made in 1985 by Microdigital Eletronica, a company located at São Paulo, Brazil, that manufactured some ZX81 clones before and a ZX80 clones ....
(Brazil ZX Spectrum derivation) - MultitechAcer (company)Acer Incorporated is a multinational information technology and electronics corporation headquartered in Xizhi, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Acer's products include desktop and laptop PCs, tablet computers, servers, storage devices, displays, smartphones and peripherals...
Microprofessor I (MPF 1)Microprofessor IThe Micro-Professor MPF-I, introduced in 1981 by Multitech , was the first branded computer product from Multitech and probably one of the world's longest selling computers...
and MPF IIMicroprofessor IIMicroprofessor II , introduced in 1982, was Acer's second branded computer product and also one of the earliest Apple clones. It does not look like most other computers...
(the latter an early Apple II compatible) - OLPC XO-1OLPC XO-1The XO-1, previously known as the $100 Laptop, Children's Machine, and 2B1, is an inexpensive subnotebook computer intended to be distributed to children in developing countries around the world, to provide them with access to knowledge, and opportunities to "explore, experiment and express...
(green rubber keys molded from a single sheet of rubber) - Oric-1 (hard key tops glued on a rubber sheet, somewhat resembling the PCjr)
- PanasonicPanasonicPanasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
JR-200Panasonic JR-200The Panasonic JR-200U was a simple, relatively early , 8-bit home computer with a chiclet keyboard somewhat similar to the VTech Laser 200.Made of silver grey plastic it had a black matte area around the keyboard area... - Sinclair ZX SpectrumZX SpectrumThe ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
16/48K (later models had slightly improved keyboards) - SpectravideoSpectravideoSpectravideo, or SVI, was a U.S. computer company founded in 1981 as "SpectraVision" by Harry Fox. They originally made video games for Atari 2600 and VIC-20. Some of their computers were MSX-compliant or IBM PC compatible...
SV-318SV-318The SV-318 was the basic model of the Spectravideo range. It was fitted with a chiclet style keyboard, difficult to use, alongside which sat a combination cursor pad/joystick. This was a curious disc-shaped affair with a hole in the centre; put a red plastic 'stick' in the hole and you had a... - TandyTandyTandy is the title of a short story by Sherwood Anderson.Tandy is also a name which can refer to:-Tandy Corporation:* Tandy Corporation - a leather supply company which subsequently became the RadioShack Corporation...
TRS-80 Color Computer ITRS-80 Color ComputerThe Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer was a home computer launched in 1980. It was one of the earliest of the first generation of computers marketed for home use in English-speaking markets...
(later 'CoCo's had full-travel keyboards) - TandyTandyTandy is the title of a short story by Sherwood Anderson.Tandy is also a name which can refer to:-Tandy Corporation:* Tandy Corporation - a leather supply company which subsequently became the RadioShack Corporation...
TRS-80 MC-10TRS-80 MC-10thumb|right|The TRS-80 MC-10The TRS-80 MC-10 microcomputer is a lesser-known member of the TRS-80 line of home computers, produced by Tandy Corporation in the early 1980s and sold through their RadioShack chain of electronics stores...
and its FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
counterpart, the MatraMatraMécanique Aviation Traction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.Matra was owned by the Floirat family...
AliceMatra AliceThe Matra & Hachette Ordinateur Alice was a home computer sold in France beginning in 1983. It was a clone of the TRS-80 MC-10, produced through a collaboration between Matra and Hachette in France and Tandy Corporation in the United States.... - Texas Instruments TI-99/4 (predecessor of the TI-99/4A, which had a full-travel keyboard)
- Thomson MO5Thomson MO5The Thomson MO5 was a 6809E-based computer introduced in France in 1984. It featured 32 KB of RAM, a 40×25 text display, and built-in Microsoft BASIC. The MO5 was replaced by the MO6 in 1986.-External links:...
(French microcomputer based on the 6809 microprocessor) - Timex Sinclair 1500 (U.S. ZX81 derivation)
- Timex Sinclair 2068Timex Sinclair 2068The Timex Sinclair 2068 , released in November 1983, was Timex Sinclair's fourth and last home computer for the United States market...
(U.S. ZX Spectrum derivation) - VTech Laser 200VTech Laser 200The VTech Laser 200 was an early 8-bit home computer from 1983, also sold as the Salora Fellow , the Texet TX8000 and the Dick Smith VZ 200 ....
(also known as the Video Technology VZ200) - Some early models of MSXMSXMSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
computers, for example the PhilipsPhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
VG-8010